Meet Baby Morgan (Clara Andrews Series - Book 5) Read online

  I hear another cork popping in the distance which informs that they must be onto their fourth bottle. Coincidentally falling into my fourth snooze of the day, I gently close my eyes and let the sound of fizz induced laughter lull me to sleep. With Noah due at any second, I think I am going to need all the rest that I can get…

  *

  Peeling open my eyes, it takes me a moment to realise that the two balls of fluff in my lap are actually a pair of prize winning Pomeranians and not the two scoops of vanilla ice cream that I have just been dreaming about.

  ‘Hey, sleepyhead.’ Oliver smiles at me from an adjacent couch. ‘How are you feeling?’

  ‘Erm… I’m alright… I think.’ My brow creases into a frown as a strange tightening sensation encases my stomach. ‘How long have I been asleep?’

  ‘Around thirty minutes.’ Oliver replies, reaching for his coat. ‘We should probably get you back. You’re gonna need to rest before Monday.’

  I open my mouth to agree, but instead of words, a low howling sound comes out.

  ‘Clara?’ Oliver’s voice is suddenly serious as he leaps out of his seat. ‘What is it? Is it the baby?’

  I breathe deeply and squeeze onto the couch until the pain subsides. What the hell was that? ‘Can I have a glass of water, please?’

  Owen and Oliver look genuinely terrified and I can’t help but laugh. ‘I’m fine! I’d just really like a glass of water.’

  Owen’s face drains in colour as he disappears into the kitchen. ‘I’ll go get Eve.’

  Pushing myself into a sitting position, I rub my bump as Oliver kneels down in front of me. ‘Are you sure you’re alright?’

  ‘Yes!’ I giggle, slightly amused at how much they are over reacting. ‘It was probably just indigestion from all that pineapple I ate earlier.’

  ‘I think we should get you to a doctor just to make sure.’ Oliver mumbles uncertainly.

  ‘Honestly!’ I mumble, suddenly feeling a little uneasy again. ‘I’m… Owww!’

  My bump becomes inexplicably hard as a griping pain shoots through me.

  ‘Clara?’ Lianna rushes down the spiral staircase with Eve, suddenly seeming stone cold sober. ‘Oh, God!’

  ‘Here’s the water that you asked for.’ Owen holds out a glass with a shaking hand. ‘Can I get you anything else?’

  ‘An ambulance would be great.’ Oliver fires back, grabbing onto my sweaty hand.

  ‘No!’ I manage, between deep breaths. ‘No ambulance.’ The pain starts to subside and I take a big gulp of the water. ‘Do you have any Gaviscon?’

  ‘Clara!’ Eve shouts, grabbing her mobile phone. ‘You’re in labour! Heartburn tablets aren’t going to help! You need a hospital!’

  Suddenly starting to panic, I nod in agreement and allow Oliver to pull me to my feet. ‘I really don’t want an ambulance though.’

  ‘I’ll go fetch the car.’ Oliver snaps into action and runs for the door.

  ‘Don’t worry.’ Li reassures me. ‘He will be back before you know it.’

  My heart begins to pound as I realise that this is it. Noah is coming! Now!

  ‘Can you phone my mum?’ I hand Lianna my mobile and lean on Owen’s shoulder for support. ‘And Janie, you need to call Janie.’

  Lianna frantically jabs away at my phone as Eve rubs my shoulders.

  ‘How far apart are the contractions?’ She asks, checking her watch.

  I shrug my shoulders as another wave of pain washes over me. Not wanting to make a scene, I try to keep a smile on my face as Owen and Eve stare at me intently. Gosh, this is embarrassing. He couldn’t have waited for ten minutes until we got home?

  ‘All done.’ Lianna announces, shoving my phone into her back pocket. ‘Janie is getting on the next flight and your parents are booking train tickets as we speak.’

  ‘Train tickets?’ I ask in confusion. ‘Why aren’t they just getting into the car?’

  ‘Well…’ Li twirls a strand of hair around her finger and looks over at Eve. ‘They are in Manchester visiting your mum’s sister, they don’t actually have the car with them.’

  ‘Oh, God!’ Panic rises in my throat. ‘What if she doesn’t get here on time? She’s supposed to be my birthing partner!’

  ‘I’ll come with you.’ Eve and Lianna answer in unison.

  ‘Really?’ I feel tears in my eyes as Oliver appears in the doorway.

  ‘I got the car, are you ready?’ His voice wobbles as a bead of sweat rolls down his forehead.

  ‘I think so.’ I reach out and take his hands gingerly. ‘Did you get the baby bag?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘My dressing gown? Slippers? Toothbrush?’ My mind races as I try to remember everything that I was advised to take with me.

  ‘Honey, I got everything. We just need to get you to the hospital now.’ He smiles at me, but the terror in his eyes is clear to see.

  My stomach cramps hard and I let out a squeal. ‘OK. Let’s go.’

  Oliver leads me outside as Eve says her goodbyes to Owen, who thankfully insists on staying behind with the dogs. This is not at all how I expected this to happen. All my research told me that contractions start out as mild menstrual cramps. Well, I can safely tell you that there is nothing mild about what I am feeling right now.

  As we make our way over to the car, which Oliver has carefully decked out with duvets and pillows, I suddenly feel a strange popping sensation in my lower abdomen. Before I know what exactly is happening, a gush of water floods down my legs, covering my Converse in clear warm fluid.

  ‘Erm, Oliver…’

  I look up at him to discover that he staring at the puddle on the floor with horror. The picture painted on his face is one of sheer terror and not a sound comes from his mouth. Realising that there is no going back now, I compose myself with a deep breath and waddle sideways into the waiting car. Pain is gathering with each growing contraction and no amount of Lianna and Eve trying to comfort me helps at all. Get ready world, Noah Morgan is finally on his way!

  A child is a magical gift.

  A gift that you puke for nine months before receiving and scream blue murder the day that it arrives…

  Chapter 4

  ‘Unfortunately you are just three centimetres dilated, so it may be quite a while longer before we see any progress.’ The midwife smiles regrettably and straps a monitor around my stomach. ‘Just make yourself at home and press the buzzer if you need anything at all. Someone will be back to check on you in three hours.’

  With a quick pump of antibacterial gel, she slips out of the room and leaves the four of us alone.

  ‘Three hours?’ I sob, feeling rather sorry myself.

  Truth be told, when we arrived at the hospital earlier I was adamant that I was ready to push, but it turned out I was just two centimetres dilated. Thankfully, the midwife quickly produced a rather scary looking plastic model which showed me just how small a two centimetre hole actually is.

  ‘Would you like me to put some music on?’ Eve asks, reaching for her mobile. ‘It might help to pass the time.’

  ‘OK.’ I reply, biting onto the plastic pipe that has become my best friend.

  Labour isn’t anything like I expected. For starters nobody told me that between contractions you feel relatively normal and dare I say it, a little giddy. Although the giddiness may have something to do with the large amounts of Entonox that I have been inhaling every five minutes. Another burst of pain attacks my uterus and I grab Oliver’s sweaty hand. Bless him. Oliver has barely said a word since we arrived. No matter how many times I try to reassure him that I am OK, he still looks like he wants the ground to swallow him up. I should have known he wouldn’t find the grisly reality of labour easy. Only last summer he passed out when he cut his little finger at work. Squeamish just doesn’t cover it.

  ‘Where’s that music?’ I groan, wriggling around on the bed.

  ‘I’m just trying to find something suitable.’ Eve’s brow creases into a frown as she scrolls through her pla
ylist. ‘I know! How’s this?’

  A smile spreads across her face as Push It, by Salt-n-Pepa blasts out of her handset.

  Ah, push it

  Push it good

  Ah, push it

  Push it real good

  ‘I love this!’ Lianna laughs, dancing around her chair and singing out loud.

  ‘No!’ I yell, as a midwife looks through the window at the chaos in the room and raises her eyebrows. ‘You’re going to get us thrown out!’

  Despite trying to keep a straight face, I can’t help but giggle at the sight of Lianna and Eve dancing around the bed like a pair of 80’s throwbacks. Even Oliver manages a little laugh.

  ‘I don’t want to be a killjoy, but can we have something more chilled out, please?’ I swap my gas and air for a glass of water and try to get comfortable.

  Realising that the clock has just ticked past midnight, Oliver flicks off the main light and switches on a bedside lamp. ‘Why don’t you try and get some sleep? Like the midwife said, it could be a while.’

  Letting out a huge yawn, I nod in agreement and allow Oliver to cover me up with a soft blanket.

  ‘How’s this?’ Eve asks, as tranquil chill out music floods the room. ‘This is what I use for yoga.’

  ‘That’s better.’ I whisper, as Oliver strokes my hair gently.

  The shot of pain relief that the midwife administered before she left is finally starting to work and at last I feel like I could actually get some sleep. The powerful effect of the medicine makes it hard to distinguish if I am really asleep or just in a drug induced daze. Either way, I decide to go with it and allow my body to get some rest. The contractions keep coming, rousing me from my dreamlike state, but they are much easier to manage than before. I let out a disgruntled groan and chew mindlessly at the gas and air pipe. My vision becomes hazy as my eyelids start to close. Hopefully I can sleep straight through and awake to a beautiful baby boy.

  Who knew that labour could be so easy?

  *

  ‘Arghhh!’ My throat feels raw from screaming as I thrash my legs on the bed. ‘It’s not working!’

  ‘Where the hell is that midwife?’ Oliver jabs the call button repeatedly and presses a wet flannel onto my sweaty forehead.

  ‘Come on now, Clara. You can do this.’ Lianna rubs my arm encouragingly and pokes her head into the corridor. ‘Can we get a midwife in here?’

  Eve, who was cool as a cucumber until my pain relief wore off, totally lost it at the sound of my petrified howls and decided to wait outside until it was over.

  ‘I want an epidural!’ My screeches have whimpered out into incessant sobbing. ‘I can’t do it!’

  What started as painful cramping quickly evolved into the worst pain ever - and to think I was doing so well.

  ‘Arghhh! Make it stop!’ I dig my nails into Oliver’s hand and try to breathe through the pain. In and out, just like I was taught at antenatal classes.

  ‘Alright. Let’s have a look what’s going on here.’ A plump, mature midwife steps into the room and closes the door behind her.

  ‘Please help me.’ I beg, tears streaming down my cheeks. ‘I can’t cope anymore.’

  ‘Just take a deep breath and let me examine you. Then we will know what we are dealing with.’ She smiles sweetly and takes a seat at the foot of the bed. ‘Relax you’re doing great.’

  I try to take comfort in her words and breathe deeply on the gas.

  ‘Argh!’ A pain tears through me and a scream escapes my lips.

  ‘All done.’ The midwife trills casually, seemingly oblivious to my hysteria.

  Disposing of her gloves and washing her hands at the basin, she reaches for my birth chart and pops on her glasses.

  ‘Well, you’re ten centimetres. Time to start pushing…’

  His little hands stole my heart and his little feet ran away with it…

  Chapter 5

  He’s really here. Even though I am holding him in my arms, I still can’t believe that he is real. After almost twelve hours of labour, Noah Morgan entered the world at 10.21 this morning. No intervention and as the midwife said, pretty quick for a first time mother. Apparently, my labour was as straight forward as they come. I say apparently because I totally disagree, but now that I have him in my arms I couldn’t care less. Over an hour of pushing left me feeling exhausted beyond belief. At one point I think I actually passed out. It was only when I heard Noah’s almighty first scream that I snapped out of it.

  The excruciating pain that had been ripping through me for the past twelve hours, melted away the second that he was placed into my arms. I know you won’t believe that, because I didn’t before today. I mean, how can the sight of eight pounds of bawling flesh make you forget that you have just been ripped open? The feeling that I got when I first saw Noah can’t possibly be put into words. Euphoria just doesn’t cover it. I loved him the second that I laid my eyes on him.

  How have I made this? I stare down at his perfect little face and feel my heart burst with pride. Ten tiny toes and a beautiful little pout. He really is all Oliver. Looking up at my husband, I feel my eyes fill with tears. All I have done in the thirty minutes since he was born is cry. I never knew that happiness could produce so many tears.

  ‘Can we come in yet?’ Lianna knocks gently at the door and I motion for Oliver to let them in.

  When the time came for me to push, the doctor sent Lianna out into the hall to join Eve and ever since I have heard her pacing back and forth in anticipation. It must be so weird for her to have left just two of us in the room and be returning to three.

  ‘Clara!’ Li whispers, perching on the side of the bed. ‘He is so beautiful!’ A tear slips down her cheek as she strokes Noah’s soft skin. ‘He really, really is.’

  ‘Do you want to hold him?’ I ask, rocking him back and forth.

  ‘I don’t know!’ She bites her lip and snaps a photo of him on her phone. ‘What if I hurt him?’

  ‘You won’t hurt him.’ Oliver laughs.

  ‘But he’s so tiny and I’m so clumsy…’ Lianna mumbles, running a hand through her hair nervously.

  ‘Alright, sit down.’ Oliver pulls out a chair and motions for her to take a seat. Plucking the sleeping baby from my arms, he positions Noah in her lap. ‘See, you’re a natural.’

  ‘Oh, God.’ Li gasps as he opens his eyes. ‘I think I love him.’

  ‘I think we all do.’ Eve chips in. ‘Noah Morgan, you are going to break a lot of hearts.’

  Oliver slips an arm around my shoulders as there’s another knock at the door. I drag my eyes away from Noah to see my mum and Janie pressing their noses up against the glass window. They finally made it! With Janie and Randy flying into Heathrow, my dad went home for the car and then proceeded to pick Oliver’s parents up from the airport on the way to the hospital.

  ‘Clara!’ My mum runs across the room and throws her arms around my neck. Her eyes flit immediately to the empty cot by the bedside. ‘Where is he?’

  I motion over to where Lianna is cradling Noah and feel my heart burst with pride as she plucks him up and snuggles her nose against his cheek. My dad claps Oliver on the back and plants a kiss on my head before presenting me with a huge bunch of roses.

  ‘Hello, darling.’ He places the roses on the bedside table and squeezes my shoulder gently. ‘I’m so… proud of you.’ I lock eyes with my dad and feel myself start to get emotional again.

  ‘Let me at him!’ Janie pushes her way into the room and makes a beeline for the baby, totally oblivious to the father, daughter moment that she has just bull dozed. Her jaw drops as she comes to a stop next to my mum.

  ‘Well would you look at that…’

  Janie’s taught skin and heavily made up eyes soften as she takes in her first grandchild. She takes a manicured finger and runs it over his nose. For a while, neither of them say anything, they just stand there staring at the little pink bundle in my mum’s arms. It’s hard to believe that he was in my tummy all this time. All those
kicks came from that pair of little legs right there. Lost in the moment, it takes me a good few minutes to realise that Oliver’s dad, Randy, isn’t here. As if reading my mind, Janie spins around and embraces Oliver in a huge hug.

  ‘Congratulations.’ She squeezes him tightly before retreating to fix her lipstick. ‘Uncle Ernie took a turn for the worst. Your father had to stay behind.’ Oliver’s eyes widen with worry and Janie is quick to reassure him that everything will be OK. ‘Don’t worry, he’s gonna be just fine. Randy will be flying out just as soon as Ernie gets the all clear.’ She flashes me a wink and shakes off her pink bubble jacket. ‘Now, I haven’t flown through the night for nothing. Hand over that baby, Rose.’

  Extracting Noah from my mother, Janie perches on the foot of the bed. ‘Well, he’s definitely a Morgan. That’s for sure.’

  ‘You think so?’ Oliver laughs, pride etched on his face.

  ‘Oh, yeah.’ She rocks him back and forth and smiles as my mum snaps a photo of the two of them. ‘What are we calling him again?’

  ‘Noah.’ We are all answer in unison.

  ‘Noah?’ Janie screws up her nose and shrugs her shoulders. ‘As in the ark?’

  The room erupts into laughter as Oliver slips his arm around his mother’s shoulders. ‘Yeah, Mom. As in the ark…’

  A new baby is probably the greatest gift that could ever be…

  Chapter 6

  After twenty-four hours in the hospital, Noah and I were finally allowed to leave. I genuinely can’t believe that you are given permission to take something so precious home without as much as an instruction manual. Feeling totally besotted, I lean over and stroke his tiny hand. The entire journey home I have stared at his little face in awe. I made this. This perfect little bundle grew inside me.

  ‘Are you ready to see your home, Noah?’ Oliver turns around in his seat as we come to a stop on our driveway.

  ‘Are you kidding me?’ Janie scoffs, rolling her eyes as she unbuckles her seatbelt. ‘He’s one day old! Little guy can’t see anything!’

  Just as I expected, it doesn’t look like Janie is going to be the most maternal grandmother in the world. I do catch her eyes softening whenever she holds Noah, but she would rather chop her eyelash extensions off than admit it. Anyone else might find it offensive that their motherin-law doesn’t have a mothering bone in her body, but Janie really isn’t as bad as she seems. Over the past few years I have become accustomed to her frankly intrepid ways, so it doesn’t surprise me that she is keeping a wall up when it comes to grandmother duties. I think the word grandmother alone is enough to bring her out in hives.